Shop tour videos are sort of a love ’em or leave ’em kind of thing.  For me, I love them.  Why do I like watching shop tour videos as much as I do?  Simply put, ideas.  Ideas for storage, ideas for workflow, ideas for layout.  Seeing how a separate individual works and utilizes their space is abundantly educational.  And it doesn’t need to stop at whatever hobby is yours.  If you are a woodworker you can pick up ideas from leatherworkers; if you do leatherwork you might be able to pick up some ideas from a stained glass artist, and so on.  So that, in a nutshell, is why I like watching tour videos.  So why has it taken me almost 4 years to make one?  That’s a really good question and I wish I had a good answer.  I guess I kept telling myself “once I get this done, or maybe after I finish that”.  Well you know what?  This and that never seem to happen, or if this and that get done then the other thing needs taking care of.  Catch my drift?  Workshops are fluid.  They are always evolving and something can always be changed, moved, or added on to.  Tools change, equipment changes, and many times the location itself changes.  I probably got to the end of that line of thinking and realized there will never come a “perfect” time to do one.  Not to mention I am rather nostalgic and I feel as though I have already wasted several opportunities to do one for posterity’s sake alone.  My father had a small workbench in the basement of the house I grew up in that housed mostly painting supplies.  He was a painter at the time.  Or at least he painted houses for money.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, the economy was terrible and both my parents worked their asses off and did anything and everything to make ends meet.  Back to my original thought, shall we?  Slung across that old workbench in my dad’s basement were some paint clothes.  I have what seems to be a crystal clear memory of what those paint clothes looked and felt like.  But what I wouldn’t give to have a picture of that small damp corner of the basement with a lone incandescent bulb silhouetting those paint-caked stiff clothes.  So having one or more videos of my shop evolving over the years is worth it enough for posterity’s sake in the hopes my children will want to someday look back on the time they spent in there.

Caveat: I have been woodworking and making things with my hands around 1992.  It is rather unreasonable to think all these tools were acquired overnight.  My first tools were a small handsaw, screwdriver set, and small corded drill.  That was enough for me to start making and selling shelves and small end tables.  I began to expand my tool arsenal to make bigger items and to do so more efficiently with more precision.  Again, it evolves and doesn’t happen overnight.  Find something you would like to make and go from there.  It’s a world of endless possibilities.

My Tools Page (more up to date)

Amazon Store Page

 

 

Project Videos From The Tour:

 

Sandpaper Cabinet

 

 

Cordless Tool Cabinet

 

Spoon Making Router Jig

 

Marking Knife Build

 

Le Bucket Lid Napkin Holder Video

 

Spline Jig Hanging Above Miter Saw

 

The Start Of My Hardware Organizer

 

Door Board DIY Track Saw For Easy Straight Cuts

 

Zip Tie Holder

 

MDF Zip Tie Drawer

 

Pocket Hole Mounting Board

 

Workshop Sign

 

Drawer Pulls

 

Shoebox Container Organizer

 

Air Compressor Station

Workbench Organizer

 

Kraft Paper Holder

 

 Table Saw Sled Article

Table Saw Sled Plans

 

Sled Tenoning Jig

 

 

 

 

Tools & Items From the Video:

*Some Items Discontinued & I tried to find the closet match

Red Poles I Use For Hanging Lights

Black Mechanic Boxes (much cheaper if bought in store – I got mine on Black Friday)

Miter Saw

Scaffolding

Wet Grinder

Bench-top Bandsaw 

Drill Press*

Binder Twine (because everyone needs it)

Router Table

Drill & Impact Driver

Cordless Circular Saw

Reciprocating Saw

Jigsaw

Jointer

belt disc sander

Spindle Sander

Mortiser

Scroll Saw

Heat Pump & Air Conditioner

Natural Gas Heater

Quartz Heater

Shear Brake Roll

Planer

Tripod

Cyclone Dust Collector

Ambient Air Filter

Large Bandsaw

Wood Lathe

Lathe Tool Set

Brad Nailer*

Crown Stapler

Micro Pinner

Upholstery Stapler

Aluminum Bar Clamp (cheaper at Harbor Freight)

Quick Clamp

Parallel Clamps

Slow Speed Grinder

Lathe Tool Sharpening Jig

Bench Grinder*

Polisher / Buffer

1″ Belt Sander

Tee-Handles Metric

Tee-Handles Standard

Tee-Handles Torx

Table Saw

Table Saw Sled

Dust Extractor

Flush Mount Power Strip w/ USB charger

 

 

8 Responses

  1. bob

    Good honest video. Watched it all. I laughed out loud when you were by the drill press and my table. Looked like you had giant horns coming out of your head. Like a viking…

    Reply
    • Nick

      I may have those horns at some point – I was actually hoping you might not see this as I was planning on giving the table back to you after I fix it – oh well

      Reply
  2. Dave (KSFWG)

    The video shows a working shop — not a “pretty shop” for making YouTube videos. Several projects going on at once, the scraps and off cuts near by, and the saw dust laying around. That’s my kind of shop!

    Reply
  3. Don Wamsley

    Nick, well I though I had a lot of tools. I like the holder under your lathe, how did you attach it to the underside of the lathe. I saw your aluminum clamps they look like the ones I have bought from Harbour Freight. Mine kept bowing on me till I cut a length of wood and sled into the clamp. My shop is about the size of a one car garage. Maybe on day I will do a shop tour on you tube also.

    Reply
    • Nick

      thanks – I have some wood holds going through essentially sandwiching it in place – I like the aluminum clamps – I don’t use them for anything needing extreme pressure because yes they will bend – I use them mostly for panel glue-ups

      Reply
  4. Jeff

    I watched the whole thing and felt right at home. It looks a lot like my shop. Lots of projects going on at the same time, Including organization! Thanks for including links to projects and tools.

    Reply
    • Nick

      no problem – I wish had I talked about less so I didn’t have to have so many links but, it is what it is

      Reply

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